Chinese, Indonesian militaries to hold first joint disaster relief exercise

BEIJING, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese and Indonesian militaries will hold a joint humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) exercise in Indonesia from late November to early December, a Chinese military spokesperson said Thursday.

Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, said that according to the consensus between the two militaries, troops from the Chinese People's Liberation Army Southern Theater Command will participate in the Peace Garuda-2024 joint HADR exercise, the first of its kind between the two sides.

During the event, army, naval and air force elements from the two sides will conduct drills on search and detection, medical treatment, personnel evacuation and settlement, nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) protection, and parachute delivery. They will also carry out cultural and sports activities, Wu said.

Wu noted that Chinese and Indonesian militaries have maintained close high-level exchanges over recent years, and yielded fruitful results in various fields of cooperation.

As the two countries celebrate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations next year, the Chinese side is willing to work with the Indonesian side to further strengthen military exchanges and improve the defense dialogue mechanism, he said.